Wanna Know A Secret?
by pikapikatchu
Summary: What's going on with Julian? Greg is about to find out...
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys!

You're ready to find out what's going on between Greg and Julian? ;) Let me know what you think about that storyline!

* * *

><p>"Nick! Good, you're here. I need to talk to you..." Greg walked into the break room and quickly sat down next to Nick.<p>

"Hey Greg," Nick put down the newspaper he was reading. "What's wrong?"

"Well, I'm not sure something is..." Greg looked over to the door as Julian entered.

"Hey guys," he said while walking over to the coffee machine.

"So, what's wrong?" Nick asked curious.

Greg shook his head very subtle.

Nick got the hint and stopped asking.

Julian sat down opposite Greg, a magazine in one hand, his coffee mug in the other one.

Nick could notice the slight discomfort Greg was trying to hide. All three men didn't say a word.

Julian opened the magazine and started reading. "Can you believe that? I wouldn't want to be caught DEAD in that outfit, and Brit wears it out and about! Shouldn't she be rich enough to have someone decide what to wear?"

Nick just looked at Julian amused. He was always ranting about stuff he read in the magazines and Nick thought it was weird but amusing.

Greg kept looking at Julian as well, but instead of commenting his rants as usual, he was just sitting there with a weird look on his face.

"Are you alright, Greg?" Nick asked rather concerned. First, Greg wanted to talk to him about something that seemed to be quite important, and now he was sitting here, looking kind of uncomfortable. What was going on with him?

"Huh?" Greg looked at Nick. "Yeah..."

Julian looked up from his magazine as well. "You're sure? You want me to get you something to drink?"

"No! No, I'm fine. I..." Greg realized how weird he behaved. "I'm good, thanks..." He gave both men a sheepish smile when Catherine walked in, accompanied by Ray.

"Greg, you and Ray have a robbery in North Vegas." Catherine handed him a piece of paper with the address on it. "Nicky, you're with me. We leave in five."

"Alright." Nick got up and headed to the door, followed by Greg. Outside the room, Nick asked Greg again what he wanted to talk about, but Julian walked pass them.

"...Nothing, it can wait." Greg walked away, leaving Nick puzzled.

* * *

><p>Three hours later, Greg and Ray arrived back at the lab.<p>

Nick was sitting in the layout room, processing evidence he and Catherine collected.

Greg was standing in the doorway with some files in his hands. "Where's Catherine?"

Nick looked up to his colleague. "Down in autopsy, why?"

Greg went in and closed the door behind him. "Okay, I really need to tell you this. It may sound weird and I have no idea if I'm not seeing things that are not there. It's been a long day yesterday so I might misinterpret some things... I don't know, I..." He put the files down on the table.

"Greg. You're running off the track. What's this about?" Nick interrupted his rant, knowing it could go on forever if he wasn't stopped.

Greg sighed. He sat down opposite Nick. "Well yesterday... After we closed the case and I was ready to go home... Julian went into the locker room."

Nick smiled. "Now that can't be good." When he noticed Greg wasn't returning the smile, he stopped smiling. "So what happened between you two? Did you have a fight again?"

Greg shook his head. "It was so weird. He asked me about what happened when I was interrogating Hank Lloyd, if I was okay."

"Julian asked you about your feelings?" Nick said surprised. "Wow. How come?"

"Well..." Greg had that uncomfortable look on his face again. "He then hugged me, stroke my shoulder and told me how glad he was that I'm okay..."

Nick stared at Greg. Was he trying to say what Nick thought he was? "What... are you trying to say here, Greg?"

Greg sighed deeply. "I think Julian kind of... you know, hit on me..." Both discomfort and worry was shown in his face now.

"...You think he... hit on you..."

Greg nodded.

He tried the best he could not to, but Nick couldn't help but burst into laughter. "He hit on you?" He kept laughing, much to Greg's annoyance.

"When you're done, could you please tell me if you think I'm overreacting?" Greg said with an irritated voice.

"Sorry..." Nick tried to keep himself together. "So..." He kept chuckling. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"I was hoping you could tell me!"

"Well I have an idea, but it's risky... You want to hear it?"

Greg nodded with interest.

"First, you go shopping. Some flowers, chocolate, that kind of thing. Then you make a reservation in a good restaurant and ask Julian out!" Nick started to laugh again.

"Ha ha, very funny, you jerk," Greg said with a faint smile on his face. Thinking about it, the situation WAS kind of funny. But also a bit awkward. "Now come on, will you help me?"

Nick got up, walked over to Greg and patted him on the shoulder. "Sorry, hon, you'll have to figure that one out by yourself. And now excuse me, I need to find Sara. She'll LOVE it!"

"What? NO!" Greg quickly raised up from his chair. "Don't you DARE telling anybody!"

"Why not? It's funny!"

"Because I don't want to embarrass Julian!"

"Don't be ridiculous. Everyone knows already."

"Huh?" Greg was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Uhm... That he's gay? We all know, he's out."

"You mean he told you?"

Nick gave Greg a weird look. "Yeah he did. He was talking with his ex-boyfriend on the phone one day and then he told me. Not that it was any of my business, but whatever. Julian just likes to talk about himself. And besides, Greg, come on. It's not that big of a riddle."

Nick was alluding at Julian's rather flamboyant personality.

Greg had a foolish look on his face. He had no idea and didn't give it any thought, anyways. With Julian always drooling over female celebrities, he figured he was straight, but he obviously got that wrong.

"I'm gonna call Sara..." Nick laughed while getting his cell out.

"Don't!" Greg grabbed the phone out of his hands. "I'm serious! I don't want him to think I'm making fun of him or anything like that. I don't want to hurt his feelings..."

"Aw man, you're ruining a funny story, you know that? Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut. But if you really don't want to hurt his feelings, don't act all weird around him! It was SO obvious earlier that something was going on." Nick was still laughing when he left the room.

* * *

><p>Greg grabbed the files he came with and went out the door. Julian bumped into him, causing him to drop his files.<p>

"Julian." Greg said startled.

"Sorry, didn't see you there." Julian knelt down to help Greg pick up the papers. Their hands met several times, causing Greg to rapidly pull back.

"I got it, I got it... Thanks," he said rather nervous.

When they were done picking up the papers, Julian grabbed Greg's arm to help him get back up. "I'll be more careful next time, promise!" Julian gave him a big smile, patted him on the back and kept walking.

Greg just stood there, feeling like a fool. Looking to the A/V lab, he saw Nick and Sara laughing. Greg rolled his eyes. "Thanks for keeping your mouth shut, Nick," he said sarcastically to himself and walked away.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Ray and Greg were discussing their case while sitting at a light table.<p>

"So, Greg..." Ray put down the evidence they just finished discussing. "Julian's found a new object of desire?"

Greg tilted his head back. "I'm gonna KILL Nick!"

"Nick didn't tell me anything, Greg," Ray said with a smile on his face. "It's just that Julian stopped following me around all day, so I figured he's not interested in me anymore. And when I saw how you acted around him, I figured he chose you now."

Greg sighed. "I'm not a good actor, I guess." He smiled. "So how did you deal with him?"

"I didn't. I ignored it. At first I thought it was just admiration, but then I noticed him trying to flirt with me. Just don't cater to it and he'll get the hint."

"Don't you think I should, I don't know, tell him I'm not interested?" Greg was unsure what to do.

"Maybe, if you want to. I figured it was best to wait until he loses interest, I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable around me after rejecting him. We have to work with him, after all."

Greg actually thought Ray was right. Ignoring Julian's moves was probably not the most classy way of dealing with it, but it sure was the easiest – at least that's what he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Archie." Greg walked into the A/V room. "Was the surveillance camera footage we gave you useful?"

"It clearly shows three men entering the super market, but their faces are covered with masks. All I can tell you is that two of them are around 5'10'', the third one is probably 6'2'', maybe 6'3''," Archie said while showing Greg the video.

"Who's shooting at the clerk?"

"One of the shorter guys. I think he has red hair, you see that?" Archie zoomed in on the guy, his hair was showing underneath the mask.

"Red hair's not too common, it could help us narrow it down. Anything else?"

"The tall one went into the office." Archie pulled up the video. "He was going through some paperwork and left."

"He looks angry. Maybe he was looking for something and couldn't find it... Thanks, Archie."

* * *

><p>Greg and Ray decided to pay the super market manager a visit. Maybe he knew what the robbers were looking for in his office.<p>

"Dr. Langston, Mr. Sanders, nice to meet you." He shook their hands.

"Hello Mr. Clark. How are you doing?" Ray said while sitting down opposite the manager.

He nodded. "We're all okay. The robbery was a shock to us all but Bob, the store clerk who was shot, is going to be fine."

"That's good to hear," Ray said with a smile on his face. "Listen, the surveillance cameras showed that one of the robbers went into your office. We believe he was looking for something but didn't find it. Do you have any idea what that might've been?"

Mr. Clark shook his head. "Nothing I can think of right now. Everything that's here is boring paper work."

"Unfortunately we don't know what the robbers look like, they wore masks. All we know is that two of them are around 5'10'' and the other one around 6'2''. One of the shorter guys has red hair. Do you know anyone that fits that description?" Greg asked, handing over screen shots of the robbers.

"I don't think I know any redheads. I know two or three guys that are as tall as 6'2'' and I know guys that are around 5'10'' but that's it, I don't think anyone of them did this. Why do you think I know them?"

"Because they went into your office and wanted something from here. If you remember anything, please give us a call." Ray handed him a card.

"I will. Thank you."

* * *

><p>"Something's weird about him, don't you think?" Greg asked Ray. They were driving back to the lab, with Ray sitting in the driver's seat.<p>

"Yeah. When we asked him about what they might've wanted, he was lying to us. He knows what it is. The question is, why doesn't he want US to know?"

* * *

><p>When Greg and Ray walked into the lab, Ray's phone rang. "Langston. ...What? Alright, I'll be right down."<p>

"What is it?" Greg asked.

"A body was found a few blocks from the super market. He had a mask on like our robbers did... I'll go down to autopsy and see what Doc Robbins found out. Could you do me a favor and get our DNA results?"

"...DNA?" Greg asked insecure.

Ray smiled. "Come on, Greg, be professional. You'll have to see him all the time."

"...You're right. Okay, see you in a bit."

They both walked off.

* * *

><p>"...Hey Julian." Greg walked into the DNA lab reluctantly.<p>

"Greg, it's good to see you." Julian looked up from a microscope with a smile on his face. "What can I do for you?"

"I... Well, I wanted to ask you if you're finished with the DNA samples I gave you..."

"Of course." He rolled to the desk with his chair. "Here's the results."

"Thank you..." Greg walked up to Julian to grab the reports, but Julian held them in his hand and started walking Greg through his findings.

""Let's see... The blood samples you collected all belonged to a Bob Hershman. You know who he is?"

"Yeah, he was shot by the robbers. He's in the hospital now. Anything else?"

"Mhm. You found saliva on the counter, right? It belongs to a Chris Flanders." Julian finally handed Greg the reports. "Maybe one of the robbers were spitting a lot while talking?"

"Let's just hope he did." Greg turned around and walked towards the door.

"Uhm... Greg?" Julian stopped him.

"Yeah?" He turned around again.

Julian stood up and walked up to him. "Do you like basketball?"

"...Huh?"

"Basketball, you like it?"

"I... uh, I guess..." Greg shrugged, not knowing what Julian was up to. Then he realized what it might be.

Julian got a bit closer to Greg. "You know, I have two tickets for College Basketball in three days, you wanna go with me?"

Greg looked surprised. Why didn't he just say 'no, I don't like basketball'? "Uh... I... I don't think that's a good idea, Julian..." He stuttered.

"If you don't like basketball we could go to a restaurant or something like that..." Julian was getting closer again.

"No! ...No..." Greg took a few steps back. "Really, it's... it's not a good idea." Greg left with an embarrassed look on his face.

* * *

><p>Why did he just do that? Why didn't he set it straight? Why didn't he just tell him he's not interested in Julian? It might've hurt him at first, but he would've gone over it. He was on his way down to autopsy when he ran into Sara.<p>

"Hey, pretty boy!" She gave him a big typical Sara-smile.

Greg gave her an annoyed smile. "Nick can't keep his mouth shut, can he? Just don't tell anyone else, alright?"

"Relax. So how's it going? Is the love still fresh?" She laughed.

Greg sat down in the hallway to the autopsy room. "You promise not to tell anyone? Not even... no, especially not Nick?"

"Don't make me promise that, Greg. That's cruel!" She smiled.

He gave her a look.

"Okay, okay, I promise..." She still smiled and rolled her eyes, and sat down next to him.

"He asked me out..." Greg couldn't help but chuckle when he said that.

Sara looked at him, trying not to laugh. "...And... What... did you say?" She chuckled as well.

"It was totally embarrassing!" He started to laugh. "I didn't know how to react! So I just told him it's not a good idea for us to go out and left."

Sara grinned. "He'll probably think you mean it's not a good idea because you two work together. Why didn't you just tell him you're not gay?"

"Like I said, I didn't know how to react. I panicked."

"Why? I mean it's no big deal. You're not interested in Julian, that's his problem, not yours. Why do you feel so uncomfortable around him?" Sara asked, already suspecting to know the answer to that.

Greg shrugged. "I don't know..."

"You're sure about that? Because a few months ago you told me you felt uncomfortable being physically close to any man, even your friends. Does that have anything to do with it?" Sara was talking about Greg's feelings following the events in the video rental store. Ever since one of the hostage takers forced himself on Greg, he got nervous around men getting too close to him. Sara thought he'd overcome this a few weeks later, and Greg thought so, too. But why did he feel so uncomfortable with Julian's crush, then?

Greg sighed. "I don't know, Sara. I think I'm over that."

"Well, you basically just waited for it to go away, didn't you? You didn't exactly try to process it all, it just went away. Maybe it was just hiding somewhere and now it's back?"

"Oh, I don't know... I mean it's just weird, isn't it? Knowing that your co-worker has a crush on you."

"I wouldn't know," Sara said sarcastically with a smile on her face, hinting at the crush Greg had on her for years.

Greg laughed a bit nervous. "You know what I mean."

She patted him on his knee as she got up. "You'll find a way to deal with this, I'm sure."

* * *

><p>Greg went into the autopsy room, meeting Ray and Doc Robbins already discussing the victim. "Oh crap!"<p>

The two men looked up to Greg, a little confused.

"Oh. I'm sorry. It's just, we found his DNA at the crime scene." It was one of the shorter guys, but not the redhead.

"We did?" Ray asked surprised.

Greg nodded. "You swabbed saliva from the counter, it was his. I was hoping it was somebody else's DNA, you know? We can't use that sample to convict anyone now."

"Well at least we know now he's definitely been at that super market."

"So how'd he die?" Greg looked at Doc Robbins.

"Gunshot wound, pierced right through his lung. Sara processed the scene and she found the bullet." Doc Robbins handed it to Greg. "I also found he had been beaten. He had fresh bruises all over his body, a black eye and two missing teeth."

Greg crossed his arms. "Do you think his accomplices did this to him?"

Ray nodded. "Who else could it have been?"

"I don't know, maybe someone followed them and tried to take the law into his own hands?"

"We don't have evidence to suggest either theories, yet. Let's try to find out if the bullet matches the one used to shoot the store clerk. Did you find anything else, Doc?"

"He did not only lose two teeth, but also chip one. It might've happened when he was hit, but I'm thinking he might've bitten one of his attackers. Sara didn't collect the tooth piece, it might've been stuck in whoever it was he bit. But that's just a theory."

Ray and Greg both nodded.

"He also had defensive wounds on his hands and his hand was holding on to this pretty tight." Doc Robbins handed Greg one of the masks the robbers were wearing.

"Well, there goes my theory. At least he put up a good fight," Greg said while looking at the mask.

"I'm sorry about that," Doc Robbins said jokingly.

Greg smiled at him. "Anything else?"

"That's it. Well, he died shortly after the robbery, but since he was murdered a few blocks away I guess you already figured that out."

"Thank you, Al," Ray replied while walking out with Greg.


	3. Chapter 3

"Julian, could you run DNA on this mask? It's urgent." Ray walked into the DNA lab and Greg followed him. Greg felt more comfortable confronting Julian with Ray by his side, but didn't notice it.

"I'm on it." He smiled at both of them. "Say, Greg, you want to help me? It'll go faster this way."

Greg's eyes went back and forth from Julian to Ray. "I'm sorry, I don't have time, we need to process other evidence..."

Ray couldn't hide the smirk on his face, but Julian had his eyes on Greg, anyways, and didn't notice. "Alright," he said, not getting the hints Greg was dropping. It was obvious to everyone he had no interest in Julian. Well, at least to everyone but Julian.

* * *

><p>Sara joined Greg and Ray in ballistics. Since she was the first at the murder scene she wanted to help solve the case. When she was assigned to the scene, nobody knew the victim was one of the robbers in Greg's and Ray's case.<p>

"Okay..." Bobby looked up from the microscope. "It's definitely a match to the bullet that shot the store clerk."

"At least we know who we're dealing with," Ray said. "But why did they kill him?"

"It happens all the time. Robbers fight about the money, or even because someone pulled the trigger when the others didn't want to hurt anyone. Maybe it's about something else," Sara concluded.

"We should ask the store manager if he knows our victim, maybe we'll find out more about this robbery then," Ray suggested.

* * *

><p>Greg and Ray entered the supermarket. The manager was talking to one of his employees at the other end of the store.<p>

"Mr. Clark. We'd like to talk to you." Ray walked up to him.

He looked a bit surprised. "Sure. What can I do for you?"

"Do you know this man?" Ray showed him a picture of the robber that was murdered.

Clark claimed he didn't, but the look on his face said otherwise.

"Are you sure?" Ray asked him again.

"Yeah, of course. I've never seen this man before. Was he one of the robbers?"

Ray nodded.

Meanwhile, Greg walked around the supermarket. He was standing near the counter when Ray walked up to him. "He's lying. I'm pretty sure he knows him. What's wrong?" He noticed Greg staring at one of the clerks.

"I'd like to ask him what happened to his hand..." Greg pointed to Sean Pratt. He was 5'11'' and had a bandage around his hand. He didn't have red hair, but the bandage around his hand made Greg suspicious.

"Well then, let's ask him." As Ray was walking up to him, Sean seemed to be getting nervous. He wouldn't be the first innocent person to get nervous around police officers and CSIs, though. "Excuse me. I'm Ray Langston with the crime lab, this is Greg Sanders. What happened to your hand?"

The clerk looked at them surprised. "...Did I do something wrong?"

"Just answer the question, please."

"I caught it in a door. Why do you care about my hand?" He asked curious.

"Would you mind showing me the wound? I'm a doctor."

He looked around nervously. "...Why?"

"Just do it and we'll let you continue your work, alright?"

When he saw what was going on, Mr. Clark joined them. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Mr. Clark, everything's fine." Ray turned to him for a second before turning his head to Sean Pratt again. When he did, Pratt threw a rack against Ray, causing him to fall against Greg, both falling to the ground. He ran out the supermarket real fast.

While they both were standing up, Greg asked Ray, "Are you alright?", before both were running after Pratt.

Bystanders pointed to the direction Pratt was running at, making pursuit easier for the CSIs.

* * *

><p>They reached a dead end and Pratt was nowhere to be seen.<p>

"We lost him!" Greg panted.

"Dammit!" Ray shouted frustrated.

When they turned around to get back to the supermarket, they heard noise coming from behind a garbage bin.

Ray quickly turned around and drew his weapon, slowly making his way to where the noise was coming from. Greg followed him, even though he didn't carry a gun.

"LVPD! Put your hands up and come out!" Ray yelled.

Greg called for backup through his radio. They didn't have any cuffs with them, except for zip cuffs in their kits. Unfortunately for them, they left their kits in the car. They only wanted to talk to Mr. Clark about the murder victim, after all. They had to wait for backup, their car was too far away and Greg didn't want to leave Ray alone, anyway.

"Come out!" Ray yelled again, his gun pointed to where he expected Pratt to come out.

Slowly two hands rose up from behind the garbage bin. Pratt slowly stood up, his hands still up in the air.

Ray walked over to him. "Turn around and get your hands against the wall!" He patted him down but didn't find any weapons on him. Ray put his gun back in the holster and crossed Pratt's arms behind his back. "What's your name?"

"Sean Pratt..."

"Why'd you run away? Huh? You got something to hide?"

"No."

"No? Then why were you running?" Ray kept holding Pratt's hands together. "Did he bite you before you killed him?" He took off Pratt's bandage around the hand to uncover a bite mark. "Wow, looks like you got an infection. Didn't you know that human bites can be very dangerous?"

"What do you want from me, man? You're gonna cuff me or not?" Pratt tried to break free from Ray's grip but was pushed against the wall by him.

"Why'd you kill your accomplice?" Ray was holding his hands together with his left hand and pressed him against the wall with his right hand. "You didn't want to share, right?"

"Man, what the hell are you talking about? I didn't kill nobody!" Pratt was able to free his hands from Ray's grip and elbowed him in the chest. He pushed him to the ground and tried to run away, but Greg was standing in the way, trying to stop him by pushing him down and going down with him.

While Ray was getting up, Pratt and Greg were struggling on the ground. He pinned Greg down and punched him in the face. Pratt was trying to get up when Ray lifted him up and threw him against the garbage bin.

"Stay down!" Ray pointed his gun at Pratt who was now lying on the ground.

Backup was finally driving up.

"Cuff him!" Ray ordered.

The officers went over to Pratt and arrested him.

"Are you alright?" Ray walked up to Greg.

"Yeah..." He nodded exhausted while getting up.

"Let me see that." Ray put his hand on Greg's cheek to check on the bruise around his eye, but he pulled his head back, slightly shoving away Ray's hand.

"I'm fine," he replied with a nervous smile on his face.

"...Alright. Let's get you some ice."


	4. Chapter 4

"That was quite a fight you put up. I hope it was worth it," Ray said sarcastically. He was sitting in the interrogation room together with Detective Reed and Sean Pratt.

"You do know the sentence for assaulting a CSI, right?" Reed asked rather amused.

"I told you already I didn't murder anyone. YOU harassed ME!" Pratt said in an aggressive tone.

"You can file a complaint later if you want to, but I don't think it'll help you much in court."

"You know what? I will." Pratt laid back.

Ray stood up and walked over to him. "Open your mouth please."

"I always thought the sexual abuse starts in jail, not in custody," Pratt said sarcastically.

"Good to know you can still joke about that. Now open your mouth."

"Nah-ah."

"You can either open your mouth or we'll have to find another way to get your DNA."

He finally opened his mouth to let Ray take a swab. He also took his finger prints and swabbed and photographed the bite mark on his hand.

"Who bit you?"

"My dog."

"Doesn't look like a dog bite," Reed said with a grin on her face. "If we get a match off of our victim's teeth, you're going down for murder."

* * *

><p>As she was walking by the layout room, Sara noticed Greg sitting inside, staring into space. "Hey." She walked in. "I heard about what happened with your suspect. Are you gonna be okay?"<p>

Looking a bit lost in his thoughts, he nodded.

"Are you sure?"

He gave her a fake smile. "I'm fine."

"Alright... If you need anything, you know where to find me. And put some ice on that eye, it looks horrible," she said with a pitiful smile on her face and left.

Greg just kept sitting there all alone, thinking about what happened with the suspect an hour ago. He wasn't sure why, but struggling with Pratt on the floor triggered the memories from what happened in the video rental store months ago. He felt like he did after that – victimized and weak. And he didn't feel comfortable being physically close to men again. When Ray tried to check the bruise on his eye out, he just freaked.

Sara was right, he thought. He never really processed what happened and now it was sneaking up on him again. The fact that Julian had a crush on him was the first thing to remind him about it again, and Sean Pratt overpowering him in a few seconds was finally enough to bring the old memories back.

He was talking to the department shrink, but he left that part always out, despite what he told Nick. He just felt too embarrassed about it and didn't want to go through it over and over again. He was reliving it anytime some guy came close to him, anyway.

What was he supposed to do now? Finally confide in the department shrink? Or try to suppress the feelings again?

The first idea sure was the healthier one, but also the more difficult. He didn't really feel like talking to that shrink again, he just wanted it all to be over for good.

"Greg, there you are!" Julian rushed into the room with a concerned look on his face. "I heard what happened. My god, am I glad you're okay!" He went over to him.

He wanted to just get up and leave, but Greg thought he'd have to try to ignore these impulses. "I'm gonna be fine, Julian, no need to worry." He smiled nervously.

"Oh my god, that bruise looks nasty!"

Greg rolled his eyes. "Thank you, that's what I needed to hear..."

Julian saw the ice bag lying on the desk and picked it up. "Come here, I'll cool it for you!"

Again, Greg wanted to just leave, but instead just gently shoved away Julian's hand. "No, that's okay. I can do that myself."

"Well okay, then maybe there's something else I can do for you?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks."

"You surely seem to attract danger lately..." Julian sat down next to Greg with a smile on his face.

"Yeah well that kind of comes with the job..." he said while he noticed Julian touching his shoulder.

"Do you want to grab a bite to eat after shift?" Julian asked with a smile on his face, slowly scooting closer to Greg.

Julian wouldn't stop hitting on Greg if he didn't let him know he's not interested, he thought. Although he wasn't really in the mood for this, neither was he prepared, he decided he should do something about it.

"Julian, I..." Greg was interrupted by Ray entering the room.

"Greg, the bite mark is a match to our victim. We need to talk to Mr. Clark again, Brass is bringing him over right now. Come on!" Ray went out again.

"So, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Julian asked, scooting closer again.

Greg jumped off his seat. "I need to go..." He was actually glad he got out of this situation, although he thought it would've been a good idea to go through with his plan.

* * *

><p>"Did you know Pratt was one of the robbers?" Ray was walking up and down the interrogation room behind Mr. Clark.<p>

"Of course not!"

Greg was sitting in front of Clark. "Did you ask him about his hand when he showed up to work today?"

"...Yes. He said he jammed it in a door," Mr. Clark answered nervously.

"We don't believe you. You know something about the robbery," Ray said from behind, making Clark more and more nervous.

"I didn't do anything wrong, you have to believe me!"

"What were they looking for in your office?"

"Excuse me, do you actually HAVE anything against me?" Mr. Clark was getting defensive now.

"Actually we do..." Greg pulled a paper out of a folder. " 'We know. 20,000$ or we're going to tell.' What does that mean?"

"...Where did you get this?"

"Mr. Pratt had it with him when we arrested him. It was in an envelop with your name on it. What is he talking about?"

Mr. Clark clenched his fists. "Where does a super market manager get that kind of money? What were they thinking?"

"Mr. Clark, if they were trying to blackmail you, we need to know. What was it about?" Ray asked from behind him.

"I want to go home now. I'm done talking to you."

They did find this piece of paper on Pratt, but it didn't make Mr. Clark look like a suspect. It made him look like a victim, so they had nothing to keep him at the station any longer if he wanted to leave.

* * *

><p>No luck with Mr. Clark, so they decided to talk with Sean Pratt about this.<p>

"What do you have against your boss? How did you try to extort him?" Ray sat in front of Sean Pratt, Greg was sitting next to Ray.

Pratt just sat there and looked at the two but didn't say anything.

"You're not getting any money from him now, anyways, so tell us. Why did you even think he had that kind of money?"

"I didn't care. I know enough about him to make sure he'd do anything to bring me that kind of money." Pratt had a grin on his face.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because you're facing a lot of prison time for killing your accomplice. Help us solve the case, it will work in your favor."

"I told you already, I didn't kill him!"

"Why'd he bite you, then?" Greg asked him.

"...None of your damn business." Pratt looked away. Ray and Greg weren't sure, but they thought they saw shame and regret in his eyes.

"Then why would you go down for his murder if you didn't do it? Who did it?" Ray leaned forward to him.

"Alright... The boss was into some kinky stuff. We tried to find evidence for this in his office but couldn't. There was nothing there. So we figured we'd just write him this note. We hoped it would be enough for him to come forward with the money..." Pratt finally explained. "I can go home when I tell you this, right?"

Ray smirked. "It's not that easy, but it could help you get out of prison earlier..."

"...That's all?"

"You still murdered someone, we're not going to let you run free. So come on, what kinky stuff are we talking about?"

Pratt shrugged. "Not sure. It wasn't my idea, I didn't even know about it."

"So whose idea was it, then? One of your partners works at that supermarket, too?"

"Nope."

"So how did they know about it?"

Pratt just now realized that his story didn't make sense. "Okay, I found out about it..."

"And what is it he's into?"

"I want to talk to a lawyer before I tell you everything. I want a deal and I want it on paper!"

"You'll get that, just tell us what..." Ray was interrupted by Pratt.

"No. Lawyer first."

* * *

><p>"I think he's telling the truth. Well, not all the time, but we should ask Mr. Clark about this, maybe he'll talk if we put him under enough pressure." Greg closed the door to the interrogation room behind him. Him and Ray were walking to their car to drive over to Clark.<p>

Ray nodded. "So Greg, how's your eye doing?"

"It's better. Doesn't even hurt that much anymore..." Greg smiled at Ray while walking towards the car.

"You didn't see a doctor, did you?"

Greg shook his head. "It's just a bruise."

"Well, do you mind me checking it out? I just want to make sure nothing's seriously injured."

They both stopped in front of the car and were now looking at each other.

"Thanks, but that's not necessary..." Greg turned around to walk over to the car door.

"It only takes a minute. Come on." Ray walked over to Greg. "Or is there a problem?"

Greg shook his head with an uncomfortable look on his face. "...No..."

Again, Ray put his hand on Greg's cheek to check on it. Greg tried hard not to show the discomfort and fear he was feeling and failed. It was obvious to Ray, but he knew already, anyways.

Ray put his hand down again and took a step back. "It looks alright. But you don't..."

Greg looked surprised at Ray. "...What?"

"When did it start again?"

For a second, Greg wanted to deny it. He wanted to tell Ray everything was fine. But he was also getting tired of trying to hide it. So he just shrugged and started talking. "I'm not sure it ever stopped. But when this happened..." He pointed at his bruised eye. "The feeling got stronger again... But it's okay, it'll pass."

"These things usually don't just pass, Greg. You have to fight it. Maybe you should see the department shrink again."

"I already fought it on my own, and I'll fight it this time alone, too. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Greg got into the car.

Ray knew that right now, Greg didn't want to hear anymore about it, so he decided to stop talking about it. For now.


	5. Chapter 5

"Mr. Clark, please open up!" Ray kept knocking on the door, but nobody answered.

"Maybe he's not home?" Greg asked while starting to go around the house.

"But he's supposed to be." Ray went around the other side and looked into the windows. "Greg! Call an ambulance!"

While running towards Ray with the radio in his hand, Greg heard glass break.

When he reached Ray, he was already inside the house, standing in front Mr. Clark's dead body hanging from the ceiling. "We won't need the ambulance..."

* * *

><p>"TOD was about two hours ago." David wrote it down.<p>

"So he comes home after we interrogated him and the first thing he does is hang himself..." Ray replied. "Any sings to suspect foul play?"

David shook his head. "From what I see now I'd say it was suicide, but I'll let you know if we find anything else."

"Ray, take a look at this," Greg said from the study room.

Ray joined him. They both looked at Mr. Clark's computer and didn't say a word for a minute.

"He didn't even delete that?" Ray finally said.

"He thought he did. But I was able to recover it. At least we know now why he killed himself. Child pornography."

* * *

><p>While Ray was talking to Sean Pratt again, Greg was in the layout room, checking out Pratt's cell phone, trying to find anything to help find his accomplices.<p>

When he found some text messages that looked promising, he felt someone sneaking up on him. Before he could turn around, two hands were covering his eyes.

"Guess who!"

Greg winced. Although he knew who it was, he felt scared. He jumped off his seat and turned around. "Julian! What the hell are you doing?"

"Relax! I thought it was funny!" Julian said with a big smile on his face.

"Well it's not... Didn't it occur to you that this might be inappropriate?" Greg replied while calming down.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt your eye?" Julian went over to Greg, trying to touch the bruise on his eye, but Greg stepped back.

"No, that's not it..." He sighed. "We need to talk."

"I'm glad you say that. I wanted to ask you if you want to come over to my place after shift, I could cook us some spaghetti. You seem like you could need some fun."

"See, that's exactly what I wanted to talk about, Julian. You know I... I appreciate you being so nice to me but I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?"

Greg nodded. "You know, I'm not gay..."

"...You're not?"

"No." Greg figured it was the best way to deal with this, just tell him the truth.

"...Oh, I get it. You're not ready yet... It's okay." Julian smiled at him, "I can wait," patted him on the shoulder and turned left, leaving Greg quite baffled.

Before he could start thinking about what just happened, Julian came back. "I almost forgot..." He gave Greg a smile and handed him a folder. "I got DNA and some fibers from the mask you gave me."

* * *

><p>When Ray was walking out of the interrogation room, Greg was waiting for him outside.<p>

"What did he say?" he asked Ray.

"He knew about the child pornography. He didn't even understand why he should've reported it instead of exploiting Clark with this information..." Ray shook his head.

"Remember the mask our victim had in his hands when he was found?"

Ray nodded.

"DNA came back to a John McLeroy. He has a rap sheet, he came out of prison six months ago. He did time for robbery..." Greg smiled confident.

"He doesn't have red hair, does he?"

"No. But I don't think we're looking for a redhead anymore."

"How come?" Ray took a look at the DNA report.

"Julian found some red fibers in the mask. Hodges confirmed it's plastic hair from a wig."

"How tall is he?"

"5'11'', fits the profile."

"Okay, so..." Ray sat down on a bench in front of the interrogation room. "We have three guys on tape robbing the supermarket. One tall guy, two average height. And now we have three suspects, all average height. Where's the tall one and where was one of the shorter guys when they robbed the supermarket?"

"Well, maybe one of them was driving the getaway car."

Ray nodded. "Well let's pay John McLeroy a visit and find out what he knows about the robbery..."

* * *

><p>Detective Reed and the CSIs entered John McLeroys apartment. He was arrested immediately and the CSIs were able to search his home for evidence.<p>

"He didn't even try to hide it..." Greg took a picture of a red wig lying on the floor in the living room.

"Yeah, didn't even try to hid this, as well..." Ray held up a gun he found lying on the couch.

"Looks like the gun on the video... Stupid criminals make our work so much easier..."

When they continued searching the apartment, they heard noise from outside. Reed, as well as officers at the scene, were yelling, but Greg and Ray had no idea what was going on. When they went out to see what was going on they found the officers and Reed overpowering a man.

"What's your name?" Reed yelled while pointing her gun at him.

"Drew... Drew Richards..." he said while getting up with the help of an officer.

"What are you doing here, Drew Richards?" Reed asked in a rather aggressive tone.

"I live here! What are YOU doing here?"

Ray walked over with the gun in his hand. "Did you know that this gun was used in a robbery?"

Richards shook his head. "You got the wrong person. I didn't do anything!"

"We never said you did. But your roomie did. And you had no idea, right?" Reed had a grin on her face. "We need you to come down to the station with us, take your statement."

"I don't have time for this."

"Well, you had enough time to try to take this officer's gun. You'll work it out. Now come on." Reed took him down to the car to drive him down the station.


	6. Chapter 6

"How tall are you?" Greg asked Drew Richards. He was sitting in the interrogation room with him and Reed.

"How's that any of your business?" Richards replied.

"I'd say he's around 6'3''?" Reed said, looking to Greg.

"Good guess. Isn't it a funny coincidence that one of the guys that robbed the supermarket is about your height? And that your roommate was involved with this robbery?" Greg asked Richards amused.

"No way! What a coincidence..." Reed grinned at Richards.

"Another coincidence is that we found text messages on Sean Pratt's cell phone. They were sent to a 'Drew' and it says 'Let's get the money. Bring the gun.'. I wonder what he's talking about." Greg showed him the text message. "But I'm sure that's not your number, right?"

Drew Richards just sat there. He knew that they knew it was his cell phone the message has been sent to and he also knew they could prove it.

"Stretch your hands out for me, please," Greg said while preparing a GSR test.

"Why?" he asked defensive.

"We found both your roommate's and your fingerprints on the gun that was used to shoot the clerk at the supermarket and Chris Flanders. I just want to make sure John McLeroy shot both of them."

"What makes you think he did it?"

Greg showed Richards what he uses to test for GSR. "We performed this test on him and it came back positive for gunshot residue. Will it come back positive on you, too?"

Richards leaned back and sighed. "Do whatever test you think is necessary to prove I didn't do anything wrong..."

* * *

><p>The GSR test on Drew Richards came back positive, as well. Ray and Greg were sitting in the break room discussing their case.<p>

"McLeroy confessed to shooting the store clerk, but claims Richards shot Chris Flanders, and Richards blames McLeroy for the murder..." Greg closed the folder.

"Doesn't really matter. When someone gets killed during a robbery, everyone involved gets the blame for it. It's up to the jury to decide who they want to believe," Ray replied while sipping on his coffee.

"Hey guys." Sara and Nick entered the room.

"You're here but Julian isn't?" Nick said teasing Greg.

Greg gave Nick a smile. "I don't think he'll follow me around anymore."

"Oh no, you broke up with him? That'll break his heart! ...Or whatever's inside his chest pumping his blood through his body."

Julian entered and sat down next to Greg. "What's up?"

They all looked at Julian with surprised faces.

"Hey Julian," Sara finally said with a smile on her face. They all noticed how close Julian was sitting to Greg and wondered if Greg really cleared it all up or if Julian still got the wrong idea.

Greg looked at Julian with a disturbed look on his face. Did he really get it, he wondered, too.

But Julian just looked back at him and gave him a cute smile. "What's wrong, guys?" he asked, still smiling.

Everybody just shook their heads with smiles on their faces, which was enough for Julian. He smiled, took his magazine out and started his rant again. "Jesus Christ! What did she think when she started dating this jerk?"

* * *

><p>Ende.<p> 


End file.
